Capturing the spirit and psyche of the world's greatest city.
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Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Memo from NYC

In the body politic -- in this city, state, and country, as well as in
countries around the world -- there is a constant internal struggle
between stability and change. Between wanting to Change vs. wanting to
Conserve.

This internal struggle, perhaps, is true of every single individual who makes up any particular body politic.

The
People, those sainted masses, say they want change, say they are
unhappy with the status quo, say they want things to "get better", say
that they want the world to become a better place, and yet, at the same
time, have a sentimental attachment to the past -- both real and
imagined -- as well as a strong belief that things were better "then"
before "those people" ruined everything and that we just need to "get
back" to the way things were through the power of old-fashioned "common
sense."

We see this in our politics today.

Since the
election of the first black Democratic president, Republicans have
yelled and screamed about wanting to "take our country" back from this
socialist who wants to destroy America. Democrats don't get it. They
wonder, what was so great about the past? What was so great about the
time when there was legal segregation, gays were closeted, women died
from back alley abortions, and old and sick people died in poverty?
Republicans, of course, still wish we lived in that world. Democrats
don't. But Democrats also wonder what happened to the middle class, that
wonderful post-WW2 institution, which has been dying a slow death for
the last three decades. Democrats want to take the middle class back.
Republicans, however, are very glad that it is dead.

In short,
Democrats always want to improve things, to "change" things or to bring
the country back to a certain mythic point in time when the benefits of
society were more widely distributed, while Republicans want things to
stay the same or take the country back to another mythic point in time
when they were huge divisions between rich and poor.

Wanting to
change things vs. wanting to keep things the same is the constant ying
and yang of our politics. When it comes to elections and the wielding of
political power, the burden is higher on Democrats. It is less so on
Republicans. Democrats want to win elections so that they can do thing
with the power they gain. Republicans want to win elections so that they
can keep that same power away from Democrats. When Democrats win power,
they think, "Great, let's create policies that help people" and
Republicans completely freak out because this is their worse fear
realized. When Republicans win power, they think, "Great, how can we
keep power out of the hands of Democrats" and who cares about policy?

This
internal struggle causes distortions in our politics and public
policies. Democrats, liberals, view politics as a means to an end. For
Republicans, conservatives, politics is an end unto itself. So
Republicans are, for the most part, better practitioners of politics
than Democrats (not always but usually).

This article by a
former liberal Canadian politician sheds some light on the problem why,
as the most recent elections show, people who care more about pure
politics as opposed to crafting policy will always have the upper hand.
In short, he concedes that the big problem with liberals in politics is
that, because they care more about policy than politics, they are
ill-suited to the nasty, vicious, ugly realities of political combat.
Liberals look down on it. They think it's vile. Conservatives,
meanwhile, love it. After all, it's why they're in politics to begin
with! His advice to liberals:

"It doesn’t pay ... to pretend to be better than the business you’re
in. You can’t succeed in politics if you give too much appearance of
despising the low arts by which we govern ourselves. Fastidious distaste
for the roughness and meanness of political life may work in a seminar
room, but it’s fatal on the campaign trail."

My advice to
Democrats after these most recent elections: play rough. Play hard. Go
after the Republicans full blast. These are nasty, vicious people and
anything less than full on confrontation with them won't work. Don't
retreat, don't surrender, don't concede an inch. Don't compromise with
them, don't make deals, don't try to get them to like you. Fight, fight,
and fight some more. Never stop. Exhaust them. Harass them. Embarrass
them at every chance. Most of all, embrace the "dark arts" of politics.
Beat them at their own game.

Until the Republicans are fully
defeated, Democratic policy goals won't have a chance. Only then will
the middle class arise again.